Right to Buy Scheme
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the change in the number of Right to Buy sales per year from (a) the changes to Right to Buy introduced since July 2024 and (b) the changes proposed in the Social Housing Bill.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook
Estimates set out in the review of the increased Right to Buy discounts introduced in 2012 policy paper, which can be found on gov.uk here, indicated that reducing maximum cash discounts would lower Right to Buy sales by c.25,000 over a five-year period (from 2025-26 to 2029-30), with a long run average of c.1,700 sales per annum.
Updated modelling, reflecting revised assumptions on inflation and an increase in sales in 2025-26 (as households brought forward purchases ahead of the changes to maximum cash discounts), shows a reduction of c.22,000 sales between 2025-26 and 2029-30, with a long run average of c.1,500 sales per annum.
The impact assessment for the Social Housing Bill, which can be found on gov.uk here, sets out that reforms contained within the Bill are expected to further reduce sales by c. 2,000 between 2025-26 and 2029-30, with a long run average estimate of c.1,000 sales per annum.
Under the pre-reform baseline, the system was projected to deliver a net loss of c.26,000 homes between 2026-27 and 2035-36. By contrast, following implementation of the measures in the Social Housing Bill, we expect to see a net gain of c.18,000 homes over the same period.
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